Hi i wonder if someone could give me some advise i am looking to buy my first rifle and am going to get into hunting and long range target shooting say anywhere from 400 to 1000 yards, by hunting i mean dear and elk and maybe black bear what wouild have more power 30-06 7mm mag or 300 win mag those are the three i'm looking at any help would be of great help thanks. Ed

Dillinger

03-23-2009 04:47 PM

Ed - I have moved this to the General Rifle Section.

The guys will be along shortly to help with suggestions...

JD

Bob Wright

03-23-2009 05:36 PM

As to long range shooting, both the 7mm Magnum and the .300 Winchester Magnum are used in such cases, mybe the nod going to the 7mm for long range work. Both are suitable for black bear, a bit too much for deer but have been used.

The rifle in question should be the one you handle best, the Remington 700 or the Winchester Model 70, and Ruger's fine Model 77. Almost any off-the-shelf rifle will require a little tweaking by a good 'smith for outstanding performance at long ranges.

To be very honest with you, I'd go with two rifles, one for hunting and the other for target. The target rifle is normally heavier and longer than a good woods rifle, also, the magnum velocities required for long range are not required for game, especially the woods rifle, where a .30-06 or .35 Whelan is good.

Be advised I'm no rifleman, I'm a handgunner, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Heck, many of my firends swear with the 12. ga. slug for deer and bear.

Bob Wright

robocop10mm

03-23-2009 06:05 PM

If you have an area for 1000 yard shooting, you are blessed. Shooting at that kind of range is an art that not many people even get the opportunity to try.

My vote is .300 Win Mag. Maybe .338 Win Mag.

Ed Warden

03-23-2009 07:42 PM

Rifle suggestions

Yes i am pretty fortunate my wife and i belong to a shooting club that sits on 462 acres and thanks for the advice hopefully somemore will give additional references thanks again. Ed

Dillinger

03-23-2009 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Warden
(Post 85755)

Hi i wonder if someone could give me some advise i am looking to buy my first rifle and am going to get into hunting and long range target shooting say anywhere from 400 to 1000 yards, by hunting i mean dear and elk and maybe black bear what wouild have more power 30-06 7mm mag or 300 win mag those are the three i'm looking at any help would be of great help thanks. Ed

How much do you want to spend Ed? Because that will open or close a lot of doors for you.

Right off the top of my head, thinking just strictly off the shelf calibers that can be had easily I would say 7mm Mag or .300 Win Mag for the applications you are listing. .30-06 is a very good round too, but I would angle more towards the other two because there is a lot more precision ammo available for them. The Aught 6 world has a TON of hunting rounds, but there is also FGMM, which is about as good as it gets, commercially, for match grade ammo - so any set up will work for the applications listed.

Outside of that, you need a stick that is up to the challenge. I would say, honestly, you need a quality action to start with. In a Magnum/Long Action, I don't believe Remington's current offerings are good Long Action's for Magnum Calibers. I'll once again take a beat for saying it, but facts being facts the Remington has the least amount of metal to contain the chamber. In my world, that is a BAD thing. :D

You're going to need a good barrel, plan on it being at least 26" in length, but a lot of folks who shoot benchrest at 1,000 yards like to have 28" and 29" barrels, so keep that in mind. The longer the barrel, the more accurate the bullet leaving it will be, up to a certain point.

If you are hunting with it too, you can forget "comfortable" weight in my opinion.

There are no pencil thin barrelled rifles shooting 1/2MOA at 1,000 yards. Especially if it's a stock factory gun. Anyone that tells you different is flat trying to sell you something, or lying out of their ass because the Internetz is Sirius Bidness. :rolleyes:

Krieger, Mike Rock and Bartlein are all very good barrel makers that I would highly recommend doing some research on.

You are going to want the action, whatever you choose ( factory, semi custom, or completely custom ) to be glass bedded into the stock of your choice. If you don't, there is no sense in spending the money on a quality action and barrel, since you won't be getting the full benefit of what you are buying.

Optics should set you back about half of what the rifle costs, as a rule of thumb. If you can't see it, you can't hit it, no matter how much stick you have in your hands. A $3K rifle with a $200 scope is worthless in my opinion....

Here's a couple of links to a couple of builds that I have had done, have worked on myself, to give you some ideas....

Best of luck and feel free to PM if you have any specific questions...

JD

Ed Warden

03-23-2009 09:45 PM

Rifle suggestions

Hi, I have been looking at a savage 300 win mag with scope for $ 429 + tax i forget what model # is was plus also a i think it was a savage 7mm also for around the same price but i am going to look around for other deals. Does anyone have any knowledge about savage rifles are they worth the money.Ed

jeepcreep927

03-23-2009 10:06 PM

I have never seen a bad word written about a Savage rifle's accuracy and the general concensus is they have a great reputation for out of the box accuracy.

But as JD mentioned at 1000 yards you're getting into custom, or at least built, rifles. I don't know if there's a factory rig that's up for it especially for making clean kill shots on an animal.

I have an LTR that is great for my needs but I can't even conceive 1000 yards. The only places where I live with a 1000 yard clear field of fire are paved.

dnthmn2004

03-23-2009 10:11 PM

I have owned a Savage 93R17 BVT and it was a tac driver. It was a very solid rifle and I loved the AccuTrigger. It did not have an AccuStock, so I can't comment on how good/bad that is. If your not going to look into aftermarket stuff or smithing, Savage is a great buy IMO.

cpttango30

03-23-2009 10:39 PM

First things first drop that savage.

Second get your check book out.

What your going to want is a full custom built rifle. This will entail choosing the caliber of your choice I would get with a 6.5-284, 284 with a tight neck, 308 win or 338 Edge. Next you want to know what kind of action you want? I am not talking semi or bolt. Semi no matter what anyone says will not hold the accuracy you are looking for at 1grand. Do you want a RBLP, RBRP, Drop port dual port what? I like the right bolt left port as you never have to come stock to reload. Now what barrel are you going to want? I prefer Kierger or Borden barrels. But there are shilen, hart, pac-nor, and many others out there. Most are running $200 to $350 depending on caliber and twist. Back to actions what action do you want, Panda, Nesika Bay, Surgon, other there are a ton of these as well. Ok you now have your action and barrel. What the heck are you going to put it in? Well there are a few stock manufactures out there worth of 1000 yard shooting Sheean trackers, McMillan, Kelby, and many others. Are you going to shoot it from a bench, prone, combo what? How much weight are you wanting to carry around? Now we need to talk about optics. You are not going to get away with some 3-9x40mm Simmons or Tasco crap. You are going to end up spending $1500+ on just a scope. Leupold LR mk 4, Nightforce and March are the top three you are going to see on a line shooting 1000 yards. No $25 leupold one piece base is going to cut it either you are going to want an action with built in 20moa or 25moa rail or your going to want to get a Badger 20 moa rail have it mounted and get Badger Rings as well. That right there is going to set you back $300

You are looking spending $2000 to $5000 for a set up for doing the shooting you are wanting to do.

this is not counting all the high end reloading equipment you are going to need as well. No RCBS, Hornady or Dillon is going to get you the accuracy you are looking for. You are more than likely going to need a sizer die cut by the smith making your gun so it matches the chamber dia exactly.

The cheapest your going to get into the LR game is to find a Savage 12 FT/R or F-class for $1200 to $1500 plus optics. Then shoot Black hills 308 175gr match (Which is harder to find than a 12ft/r or f-class rifle).

NO $400 RIFLE AND SCOPE COMBO IS GOING TO SHOOT WORTH A DARN AT 1000 YARDS.